In discussing this statement I am going to discover whether technology is responsible for changing the nature of the state, but more specifically whether it has made boundaries more permeable. Although the statement holds the assumption that technology is the main factor of change, after reading several texts I have come to the conclusion that this belief is true, be it directly as a technological innovation or indirectly by how these innovations may influence other means of penetrating borders. The development of new technologies has for the best part of 150 years had a tremendous effect on society in general, and the world as a whole, from the development of the steam engine to the discovery of nuclear power, states have never been able to react the same. Of course, major technological advancement has been a phenomenon witnessed more frequently by the west, which of course initially made conflict between these countries more probable but ultimately more devastating, as vividly portrayed by WWI and WWII.

I will begin by discussing the first major age of change and development, in this

This may present itself as an increased urge for international interdependence or a move toward complete globalization. As it stands both these avenues are being explored, the EU for European integration and the UN for global cooperation.

Not to be left at that we have the development of the internal combustion engine and the evolution of a car into a fully armored vehicle of war - the tank. By now technology had had a major effect on the nature of states not least in Nazi Germany under Hitler who employed the method of Blitzkrieg in Poland with amazing efficiency. Submarines had also made states feel uneasy, how could they feel secure when a fleet of enemy submarines could be a few miles off coast, armed and ready to fire? Of course maybe the most significant thing that had developed during the war was the airplane. The emergence of the airplane meant the need for completely new strategies for both attacking the enemy and defending yourself. Terrifyingly for the state they were now faced with the strong possibility of having their boundaries penetrated. This type of threat was much more difficult to respond to. How could the state provide a sense of security to the populace when boundaries were easily penetrated and answers elusive? War could now be staged by land, sea, or air - who's land, sea or air seemed irrelevant.

Increasingly throughout the Second World War society was the target, the potential for death in the inner cities was immense. World war two had turned out to be a war of society vs. society. Bombers could be sent by the thousand and turn once bustling cities to rubble. Further technological improvement meant the emergence of the most destructive force known to man, the Atom bomb. Infinitely more has been at risk from the possibility of nuclear war than ever before, not a fact lost on states. The US was the first to develop this technology but was by no means the last. Not only did they gain a sense of superiority but they could also offer their citizens protection by using the bomb as deterrence against other states. Nuclear permeability is now feared above all else especially after witnessing that it's capabilities aren't speculatory, the results were clearly seen at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For a state the development of nuclear weapons has been an important factor, giving them a sense of achievement, power, status, strength but above all security. France

Some topics in this essay:
World War, Britain Japanese, Blitzkrieg Poland, Hiroshima Nagasaki, , WWI WWII, EU European, Germany Hitler, world war, land sea air, land sea, sea air, nuclear war, cooperation boundaries, war war, boundaries permeable, effect society, steam engine, industrial revolution,